The rhetoric of Under Secretary Kennedy of the US Department of State belies the reality of the failure of Consulates to utilize the Convention of Consular Relations to protect the rights and interests of Americans living abroad

IT IS TIME FOR THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

TO TRANSFORM RHETORIC TO REALITY!

AND, SINCE NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF A WOMEN WITHIN THE HOME AND FAMILY — HERE IS HER REALITY

See more videos of Maria Jose… Remembering that her case is not ‘isolated’, but representative of what happens to the wives of abusers who take advantage of negligence and corruption in the courts to continue harassing their victims

Please see below the contents of my email sent to the American Embassy on February 4, 2013.

I am once again contacting the American Consulate in Madrid in regards to my domestic abuse / divorce case, problems with the juzgado de Mostoles, Primera Instancia No. 2, and problems with my legal counsel in Madrid. At present, and once again, I am requesting assistance from the American Consulate in Madrid under art. 5 of the Convention on Consular Affairs. For your convenience I quote:

Consular functions consist in:

(a) protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, both individuals and bodies corporate, within the limits permitted by international law;

(h) safeguarding, within the limits imposed by the laws and regulations of the receiving State, the interests of minors and other persons lacking full capacity who are nationals of the sending State, particularly where any guardianship or trusteeship is required with respect to such persons;

(i) subject to the practices and procedures obtaining in the receiving State, representing or arranging appropriate representation for nationals of the sending State before the tribunals and other authorities of the receiving State, for the purpose of obtaining, in accordance with the laws and regulations of the receiving State, provisional measures for the preservation of the rights and interests of these nationals, where, because of absence or any other reason, such nationals are unable at the proper time to assume the defence of their rights and interests;

(j) transmitting judicial and extrajudicial documents or executing letters rogatory or commissions to take evidence for the courts of the sending State in accordance with international agreements in force or, in the absence of such international agreements, in any other manner compatible with the laws and regulations of the receiving State;

(m) performing any other functions entrusted to a consular post by the sending State which are not prohibited by the laws and regulations of the receiving State or to which no objection is taken by the receiving State or which are referred to in the international agreements in force between the sending State and the receiving State.

I am currently preparing an official complaint to the Colegio de Abogados for the professional and criminal negligence of my lawyers of the past 6 years, enumerating the constitutional and civil rights violations created by said negligence (see http://worldpulse.com/node/52999.) However, documents and court-records, which I wish to submit as supporting documentation, are in the possession of legal counsel Miguel Martínez López de Asiain and Ignacio Gonzalez-Martínez, C/ Santisima Trinidad, 11, 28010 Madrid, Tel. 91.445.1177.

Due to their elevated negligence and financial liability for said negligence, the probability of said documents being lost in the mail is almost a certainty, and I respectfully request that the American Consulate in Madrid assist me in the recuperation of these documents. Unfortunately, due to continuing deterioration of my ex-husband’s mental state, his past threats upon my life, and law enforcement officials, Spanish tribunals and legal counsel’s refusal to assist or protect me or my rights in legal proceedings, at this time it would be dangerous and unwise for me to enter Spanish territory in order to personally recuperate said documents.

My suggestion is that Mr. Martinez Lopez de Asiain or Ignacio Gonzalez-Martínez personally delivers said documents to the US Consulate in Madrid, to a person designated by the US Consulate to receive said documents, and which are then sent to the US State Department, Consular Affairs Division in Washington, DC, from whom I might personally recuperate the documents in question.

As an American Consul General of Madrid, you are familiar with reports by Amnesty International Spain of the widespread failure of Spanish judicial systems to protect victims of domestic abuse[1], the escalating rate of women murdered at the hands of their partner in Spain, as well as widespread harassment, ill-treatment and torture of foreign women by Spanish law enforcement officials[2]. The problems I have encountered with law enforcement officials, and violation of rights in judicial proceedings, is rampant and common-place in Spain, and not an “isolated” incident.

Additionally, you are familiar with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and European Courts of Human Rightsdecisions,Jessica Gonzalez vs. USA,[3]A vs. UK,[4] and Velasquez vs. Honduras,[5] establishing domestic violence as a human rights violation, as well as a State’s obligation to protect victims under the principle of due diligence. My complaint to the Colegio de Abogados of Madrid against my legal counsel is based upon the question of due diligence, and whether said counsel exercised due diligence in defense of my interests and rights under the Spanish Constitutional and Spanish law.

In the past 6 years, US State Department officials in Madrid and Washington, DC have continually contended that domestic abuse and the failure of governments to protect citizens living within their jurisdictions are “civil” and “private” matters, and that the American government has no obligation or duty to protect the rights or interests of their citizens on foreign soil, or within foreign tribunals.

I respectfully contest this contention, and hope that the American Consulate will assist me at this time. In the coming months I will officially be requesting that Spanish regulatory agencies, namely the Colegio de Abogados, Defensor del Pueblo, and Consejo General del Poder Judicial, thoroughly investigate and examine my case, holding all responsible parties accountable for their actions (or omission of actions) to the fullest extent of Spanish and international law (as provided for in art. 10.2 of the Spanish Constitution.)

Seventy percent of international child abduction cases under the Hague Convention are women fleeing domestic abuse and a government’s failure to protect. These women are being held to the letter of the law by sending and receiving States, facing criminal charges and incarceration for extend periods of time. In my own case, The American Consulate in Madrid and US State Department officials in Washington, DC have repeatedly informed me that my case is under Spanish jurisdiction and law, with an obligation to abide and respect these laws and jurisdiction.

In this same spirit, I am requesting that my legal counsel and other judicial actors in Spain be held to the same standard; anything less is discrimination against women and in violation of Spanish and international law.

For your convenience I have enclosed a copy of all previous correspondence with the US State Department in regards to my case (also posted on UNCSW – Document #5 – Correspondence with US State Department officials), as well as my complaint to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – Commission on the Status of Women against the Spanish government for systematic human rights violations (posted on http://worldpulse.com/node/55730.) My complaint as well as supporting documents demonstrates that my case is far from “isolated,” but rather the norm in family courts.

Until, and unless aggrieved parties reclaim their rights provided for in Constitutions, legal codes, and international treaties through appropriate legal channels, and until and unless government agencies fulfill their fiduciary responsibility through investigation and appropriate prosecution of State and non-State actors, governments will continue to be responsible for rampant human rights violations within their borders

Thank you for your response. If the documents in question cannot be included in the Embassy’s pouch to the US State Department here in Washington, DC, as I suggested, then please feel free to send them to me in the USA. If you can indicate what the costs would be, I would be happy to wire the money to an account in Spain or the USA. Please assure that they are sent by the least expensive manner possible, as I appreciate they must be quite voluminous at this point.

My address in the USA is as follows:

Quenby Wilcox

xxxxxxxxxx

The address of the closest Post Office is:

xxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for informing me about the possibility of filing a complaint with the Colegio de Abogados. But, as indicated in my correspondence, I have already prepared a comprehensive and detailed analysis of all criminal and professional negligence of my legal counsel (posted on http://worldpulse.com/node/52999.) I will be filing this complaint with the Bar Association as soon as I receive the few pending documents needed, and found within the documents in possession of Srs. Martinez Lopez de Asiain and Ignacio Gonzalez-Martínez.

In light of the previous lack of due diligence by the Defensor del Pueblo, Consejo General del Poder Judicial and Instituto de Mujer[6] in investigating my complaint and the facts of my case (April 2012) and a less than 2% sanction rate by Bar Associations, I will also be requesting that the American Consulate/Embassy in Madrid officially (and as called for in the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, inter alia) request that the Colegio de Abogados, with the highest standard of diligence and application of Spanish and international treaties (art. 9 and 10 of the Spanish Constitution,) investigate my allegations, holding all parties responsible for their actions to the letter of the law, and assuring reparations of all financial damages incurred by me, my children, and my company (Global Expats.)

Please note that the following legal counsels were directly or indirectly obtained from the American Embassy website:

It should be noted that financial damages caused by the alleged negligence of my legal counsel and other judicial actors include not only the €2 million of personal assets reclaimed by me under common property and Spanish law, but the lost opportunity costs of approximately $200 million of my company to date, and increasing by $8 million/month. (See attached presentation of Global Expats with financial estimates and revenues of comparable websites in the past 5 years, as well as the instructions for a filing of the attached financial settlement (see attached – Resolución financiero) to Srs. Martinez Lopez de Asiain and Ignacio Gonzalez-Martínez on various occasion between Feb. 2011 and Oct. 2011.)

Also, please note that as an act of good faith, in efforts to avoid proceeding against my legal counsels for criminal and professional negligence, and/or litigation in the international courts against the Spanish government, I contacted the following in 2012:

Mr. Steven Plehn of Plehn Abogados (Dec. 2012) requesting his assistance in arriving at an equitable settlement with said legal counsel. (Please see attached letter to Mr. Plehn.)

As you may note in the attached correspondence, in my efforts to arrive at a settlement with negligent legal counsel and in good faith, I have not been attempting to recuperate total financial damages, but only enough to assure that Global Expats and www.global-xpats.com will be “reinstated” to its former competitive position in the local search-city guide industry (See www.yelp.com – http://www.yelp.com/press/announcements) when it was launched in 2007.

As you may note in the attached documents, and the facts of my case, the escalation of the violence and threats upon my life and person from my ex-husband, along with his other criminal activity, have all been with the expressed intent of destroying my website and company, thereby prevent me from providing financial security for me and my children (and believe it or not my ex-husband, the father of my children.) The negligence of my legal counsel is directly, and solely, responsible for my inability to develop this website in the past 6 years.

As my case demonstrates even though under the law, women are afforded more rights in Spain than any other country in the world (including the USA), in reality they have no more rights than women under Sharia law, due to widespread negligence, discrimination and corruption in Spanish judicial systems.

The lack of good faith of Quatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, Plehn Abogados (Ms. Belen Garcia Martin,) Martinez Lopez de Asiain, and Ignacio Gonzalez-Martínez in assuming responsibility for their and/or their partners negligence, taking action to repair damages created by their partners (as called for under Spanish law) and arrive at an equitable settlement, avoiding further escalation of the case at hand and reclamation for significant financial damages, is regrettable.

I hope that all legal counsel will be encouraged to arrive at a rapid and equitable financial settlement with me, thereby avoiding the necessity for further legal action, against them and/or the Spanish government (in their obligation to protect and under the principle of due diligence, Gonzales vs. USA, 2011, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.)

What should have been a rather simple and straight-forward divorce/domestic abuse case, as the evidence of my ex-husband’s manipulations and criminal activity in the past 10 years, is over-whelming; the elevated negligence of my legal counsel and their alleged criminal activity has created a complicated and convoluted case falling under a variety of jurisdictions and laws.

As many people can attest, and as documented in court documents, I am extremely adept at understanding complex situations, explaining them in a simplified manner, and providing the appropriate steps in order to address the issues at hand. I believe I have proved this in:

My analysis of Gonzalez de Alcala vs. Wilcox, where the issues lie and how and why it is representative of what is occurring in the courts in cases of domestic abuse

My recommendation of the actions that authorities should have, and should at present, take in addressing these issues

My market research and analysis of the issues of the expat family and challenges in global mobility of these families

My market research and analysis of the Internet (Web 2.0 and 3.0) and how the infra-structure and business model trends on the Internet can provide a comprehensive solution to the challenges of expats and their employers.

It is my greatest desire to move forward with the creation of Global Expats, be re-united with my children in the briefest delay possible, and move on with my life and work. I believe this would be in the best interest of everyone; implicated legal counsel, afore mentioned Spanish regulatory agencies, the Spanish government, the US State Department, and the American government. I hope implicated legal counsel will be encouraged at present to demonstrate their good faith, and examine the facts of the case at hand. Avoiding a protracted, high-profile case in the international courts, by arriving at an equitable financial settlement, would be in the interest of all parties.